Now you can take your geekdom into the dining room with these Off The Air plates. Those of us former TV cameramen might recognize a close resemblance between these plates and the classic Philips Test Pattern PM5544. Ah, yes. Goes well with either red meat or poultry.
We tested these plates, eating a variety of dinners and lunches off them, and didn’t notice the food tasting any different. Some of our dining guests found the plates to be fascinating, whimsical and original. Others found them oddly distasteful, wondering why anyone would create dinner plates that resemble scientific test equipment. For them, we’d recommend a test pattern clock. Our unscientific survey says that if you’re reading this site, you’ll probably like them.
These 11-inch plates are nothing fancy, made of melamine, which to the rest of us just means the same kind of plastic plates you give to toddlers so the floor won’t be strewn with broken crockery when the tykes are displeased with the offerings from the dinner menu.
Unfortunately, the print job on these plates wouldn’t pass broadcast muster, with far too little contrast, and unsaturated colors. The whites are printed more like TV gray. That’s too bad, because we love the idea of eating dinner off a test pattern. Reminds us of the old days at the TV station setting up ancient cameras, or of waking up on the sofa in the middle of the night to a monotonous bars-and-tone broadcast on the TV. Even though these $10 (apiece) platters have their flaws, these test pattern plates passed our TV dinner test nonetheless.
Continue reading...
